Vengeance
by writernerd
Summary: Tori thinks her life is normal until she stumbles upon a misfortunate accident that occured on the beach, and finds a merman dying and caught in a crab trab. While trying to save his life, and falling in love with him, her hateful drunkard dad catches him and puts him on display like the fish he is. He has to escape in order to survive, but how? Read and find out! :)


**Vengeance**

by MAB:)

Prolog:

I swam quickly through the water, piercing through rays of sunlight that touched the sandy floor. Pure joy raced through my heart as I neared the island, thinking of Abigail and Jade, my sisters. Abigail would be trying to get Jade to come in the water, and she would flatly refuse and shuffle towards the cave wall as Abigail would splash water on her and dip beneath the surface.

As I neared the shore I ducted beneath a string of low-lying boulders; I swam underneath them so the humans swimming or looking above wouldn't see me. Suddenly, I swam into a piece of hard metal and something closed around my tail fin. Groping in the dark water I tried to struggle free, but whatever was holding onto me wouldn't break. Suddenly, something dragged me out from under the rock and blackness covered my eyes before I could see what was happening. I felt the heavy texture of a net drop over me and a panicking frenzy drove through me, and I struggled, only to feel myself being pulled above the water. Oxygen hit me like a bomb and I froze from shock. I hadn't entirely been above land since . . . never. What the crap was happening? I thrashed around wildly, like I had seen fish do when they got hooked on fishing rods, but it only seemed to make it worse. Someone bound my wrists to the edge of the metal thing, and I felt something sharp slide across the top of my throat. Hot blood spilled down my neck, and I coughed up blood, trying to breath. Suddenly I heard yelling and I hit the cold water with a splash, feeling blood drain out of me even faster.

The horrifying scent of it hit my nose and energy started draining out of me. I heard a wave crash overhead and the whirling sand ripped my blindfold of just in time to see a wave slam me onto the sand. I tried to struggle, but I barely had the strength to lift my tail. As the waves pushed me more onto the sand, the weaker I became and blackness picked at the edges of my eyes.

I forced myself to open my eyes again and looked around to see what I was trapped in. The biggest crab trap I had ever seen held my fin locked in one of its sharp ridges. A heavy fisherman's net lay over me, suffocating me, and holding my chest to the trap. Whoever had caught me had tied my hands to the edge of the trap. I cried out in pain as I felt more blood spill down my neck and into the sand, staining it dark red.

"Help me!" I crocked.

I walked along the beach, my mind filled with thoughts of becoming a vet. _I'm already slacking school,_ I thought. I need to keep my grades up. I shook the depressing thoughts out of head and breathed in the soothing smells of sand and salt. I lived on Tybee Island. My dad owned a little aquarium off the beach. Shelves filled with tropical fish floating in tanks and bowls lined the wooden walls. But I liked to spend most of my time out here. In the open. Where you couldn't hear cheesy tourists blabbering about, "How colorful they were!" It's a tropical gift shop people, of course they're colorful!

Looking around to make sure no one was watching I grabbed a low hanging branch of a palm tree and swung myself up, ignoring the sign that clearly stated 'Please Do Not Climb Trees.' Whatever, this was my happy place. Deal with it. I settled on a branch sheltered by leaves and coconuts and relaxed. Up here I could see forever.

Suddenly a dark grey spot embedded my vision and what looked like a gigantic crab trap washed ashore. A flicker of movement from the trap made me curious, and I jumped nimbly down from the tree. I jogged toward it and saw what looked kind of like a shark fin hanging out of the trap tugged at me. But I hung back. The fin was twitching. Sharks, even as small as this one must be, could be dangerous.

I carefully edged around the other side of the trap and the stench of blood hit me like a brick. I stumbled backwards, pinching my nose. It was ironic. I couldn't stand the smell of blood, and I wanted to be a vet. Ignoring the awful smell, I edged forward and saw that a net covered the top half of the creature's body. Its tail was covered in scratches. And it was breathing. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

My hand trembling, I leaned over and quickly yanked away the fishing net. I cried out in shock and stumbled backwards. What looked like a middle school boy lay there in the trap, a deep cut on the crook of his throat. Blood dripped out onto the sand and the boy groaned, shifting in the trap, his tail flipping over. I backed away, fighting the urge to scream and run for it. _There's no way_, I thought desperately. This has _got_ to be a joke. I leaned over and looked closer. My heart sped up. It wasn't a trick. The silvery scales seemed to lace into his skin where his tail met his stomach. Strong abs budged slightly from his skinny body, even though his ribs showed. How much did this kid weigh?

Suddenly his eyes fluttered open and bright green eyes flashed out at me, clouded with pain and fear.

"Help me," he begged. More blood gushed from his cut and I completely forgot what he was. I tore off my T-shirt to reveal my extra tank top underneath. And pressed the shirt against the cut. My eyes quickly washed over him, no other cuts that needed immediate treatment. Suddenly I saw that the net that had been hiding the top half of his body had been purposely tied to the net. And someone had tied his wrists to the cage. The cage was made of smooth metal, and a net couldn't make a cut that deep. Who did this? A cut on the throat could easily kill someone! I ran my fingers over the sailor's knot, as if somehow I could tell who had tied it. His eyes flickered open again and he tried to pull free, squirming around like a frantic fish caught in a net (irony), as if he knew that if he didn't escape, he could be turned into canned tuna, which of course caused more blood to spill from his neck. Well, spill was just an understatement. Gushing was more of an appropriate term. It was a wonder he hadn't drowned in the awful, sticky, bright red fluid yet.

"Relax," I murmured, sounding gentler that I had thought it. "Keep still, you'll only make it worse." The fear that had shone in eyes before started to edge away and a rush of affection seemed to slap me across the face. I bit my tongue, crazy thoughts racing through my mind. I ignored them and gently lifted the T-shirt. It had done little to stop the bleeding, and the anonymous stench hit me again, making me wince and gag. I had never seen so much blood in my life . . . it was _everywhere_. The foul sticky substance covered my hands and had already soaked my shirt, like someone had turned on a hose. I quickly wondered if this much blood was coming from a cut-how much would blood would spill if someone got their arm cut off. I held my breath and darkness started to poke at the edges of my mind. No, I thought fiercely. I can't be squeamish now. He'll die. . . I thought I saw his jugular move with his heartbeat. My hand started to slip and I faded into darkness.

I opened my eyes to see the girl holding her T-shirt to my throat pass out, falling on the sand. More pain shot through my cut as I tried to break myself loose. Suddenly I heard shouting and footsteps thundering across the sand.

"Tori!" I heard someone shout. _Was that the girl's name?_ I thought vaguely, trying not to slip into the pool of shimmering death that lurked beneath me, trying to invite me into its suffocating sucking water. I slipped and the pool seemed to get bigger and bigger as terror swum through my empty mind.

Suddenly I felt a different cloth being pulled around my neck and water being poured over my face. I coughed and opened my eyes to see a different human squatting in front of me. His eyes flickered with worry and surprise. I already knew why.

Suddenly I panicked as I felt my tail being untangled from the crab trap and the net being dragged off of me. I fell onto the sand and my legs formed. I saw the guy holding the cloth against my throat cut the rope binding me to the trap, letting me lose. Panic raging through my heart, I scrambled to my feet, longing to be in the water again, to feel its soothing touch across my skin. My legs barely moved and darkness seemed to crackle through me as I tried to suck in air.

"Relax." I felt myself being lifted up onto something soft and saw the guy wrap the bandage around my throat, holding back the tyrant of blood. Dizziness leaked into my eyelids and I let myself slip into the pool of death, unable to hold on anymore.

"He's not breathing!"

"Help him!"

"Get Tori and bring him to the beach house!" _What_? I fell into the pool and darkness overcame me.

The comforting scent of my dad's backroom in his shop greeted me, and I lazily lifted my head off of a fluffy pillow. As I looked around I saw my big brother Jake sitting beside me in a chair, flipping insolently through a magazine.

"Where is he?" I croaked.

"He phased," he said, jerking his thumb toward the back of the room. Phased? Oh. He lay pathetically across a cot, an IV in his arm and a thick bandage wrapped around his throat. He must be able to phase into a human, or at least human form. Unlike earlier, he wore a T-shirt three sizes too big for him, and faded blue jeans. My heart shattered as I saw a breathing pump going up his shirt and down his nose.

"I put that stuff on him. After you passed out, dad and I found you and the kid lying on the beach. I got him lose and dragged him back here. He won't talk, if he can. He's recovering from shock and he lost a lot of blood," he explained bluntly. "I'd lie down and rest if I were you." I stared at him in shock. That was the first time I had ever heard him put any emotion into his voice. I pretended not to notice and walked over to the kid, ignoring Jake's warning. He looked up at me, his green eyes clouded with pain. I felt the rush of affection again, but I pushed it back. I couldn't fall in love with him! He was part fish! And I had known him for all of two freaking minutes! Of that in which I was trying to save him from drowning in his own blood. . .

Suddenly a loud crack filled the room as a door hit the wall, and my dad blundered in, holding a beer bottle and laughing, tears streaming down his face.

"That was a lucky find on your part Tori!" he slurred. "We're rich! RICH! As soon as this thing recovered we'll put em' out and people'll pay fourtens to see em'!" He's drunk. Again.

I stared at the boy and saw his eyes cloud with terror. _He's still a person_, I thought crossly. _He should be able to go back to wherever he came from!_ I started to protest but my drunken dad cut me off with another spurt of eerie laughing and pointed to Jake.

"Tie em' up and lock em' in the crate! We don't want em' escaping now do weh?" Defiance crossed my brother's face, but he held it back and nodded. My dad left the room and my brother waited until we couldn't hear his cackling anymore. He slowly got to his feet and the kid tensed in fear. The word 'crate' echoed through my mind. He had no right to do that!

Jake pressed his fingers against the kid's throat and felt his chest for his breathing rate. He shook his head and turned a knob on the machine that powered the air tank.

"He needs to get used to talking without extra air, otherwise he could have an asthma attack," he explained, gently pulling the tube out of the boy's nose. He relaxed as his breathing deepened.

Jake knelt down by the cot.

"What's your name? I heard you talking earlier, don't try to pretend you can't do it," he said softly, but firmly. The boy tensed and winced, like he was about to be hit.

"William," he said hoarsely.

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen," he answered uneasily. I flinched as I saw fear flicker behind his bright green eyes. I have to do something.

"Dad doesn't have any right to do this," I said icily tensing my fist.

"I don't think this is right, and I don't think this is wrong," he said emotionlessly. _Of course_ I thought bitterly. _Never stand up for the weaker kid_. Jake walked away, ignoring dad's order to 'put em' in the crate' and disappeared through the door.

He turned toward me, breathing hard and pale white with fear.

"Help me, you saved my life."

I woke up early and raced to the room where dad was keeping William prisoner. My heart sank when I saw that my dad was already in there. William was gone from his cot. My stomach lurched and I frantically searched the room for him.

No they didn't.

William was in a cage. A metal dog cage. A mixture of hatred and terror filled his eyes as he leaned against the side. I swallowed my fury when I saw that my dad had used a special sailor's knot to tie his hands to the side of the cage, where he couldn't escape.

Ignoring the sign that said 'DO NOT ENTER' I knocked open the door and barged strait toward my dad, who had the expression of pure glee on his face.

"What are you doing?" I demanded. "You have no right to do this!" He faced me with an expression of cold fury on his face.

"He's an animal," he spat angrily. "He's a hunk of fish and human that genetically can't exist, and if you think that I'm going to release that thing back into the ocean because it wants to be there then you're crazy and as worthless at that cage!"

"Please, you just want money. If you had a soul at all you would look at it from his point of view. Maybe I'll do that. Here's to your hangover!" I spat, banging a metal pan against a metal table. He keeled over, clutching his head and cursed at me.

"GET HER OUT!" he roared. One second I was there, the next second flat on my face in the hallway, being locked out of the store. I hurled the pan at the wall as hard as I could and smiled with vengeance as I heard my dad curse again.

I have to get him out of there somehow. Dad wouldn't let me anywhere near him if he had anything to say about it. Oh Gosh, what do I do?

An idea hit me like a boxer, and I raced to Jake's room. He was interested in spy gear, so he had a bunch of tiny cameras that he had invented. You could stick them to a wall and get a live video feed of what was happening. Slinking back into the hallway I put one on the tiny window on the door that fed into the store, and the other on the door that led into the backroom, where I could see William.

Another surge of affection tugged at me again and I didn't try to stop it. Something about him just seemed to make my heart buffer. . .

The next day I went back into the hallway and watched the backroom for any signs of activity. Even my money-thirsty dad wouldn't wake up at 5:36 to check up on his money machine. Yesterday when the store had closed, I saw one of the body guards that my dad had hired; shove William in a closet in the backroom. That must be where he was  
now.

Silently, I picked the lock with a bobby pin and slid into the room, praying that this would work. Hands trembling I picked the lock to the closet and slid in. My heard surged again and I smiled as William's eyes fluttered open. He jumped when he saw me and tensed. He was ready to fight to get to freedom.

"Relax. I know a way out of here. I'm on your side," I whispered. His eyes brightened with hope and he slid awkwardly off the cot placed in the middle of the room. He clung to the wall for support and faltered, sliding to the floor, legs shaking with effort.

"Can't you walk?" I asked, rushing over to him. I held him up by his stomach as he scrambled around, trying to stand.

"Kind of?" he said shakily.

"You need to know how to walk to get out of here." I jumped and let William fall to the floor as I spun around. Jake leaned against the wall, chuckling at us. William paled and I faced Jake with an icy expression.

"I thought you were neutral."

"I've been thinking, and you're right. William should be able to make his own choice," he answered smoothly.

"So why can't I walk?" he demanded awkwardly, trying to scramble to his feet again.

"Even if you're human, if you go a long period of time without walking, or putting pressure on your joins, the connections that usually connect when you want to work a certain muscle build up. That's William's case. If you want to walk you need to practice in order to escape," Jake explained.

"Dad will turn him into fish food!" I protested, dragging William to his feet again, ignoring his call of protest. "How will we speed up the connections?"

"I can look into it, but as of now you can only practice putting weight on your foot. I don't think there's anything else you can do," he replied, furrowing his eyebrows. He looked at his watch and paled.

"Dad will be coming here any second, wrap it up!" he warned motioning toward the door. I turned toward William and he nodded.

"You can't drag me to the water, I'll be fine!" he promised. "Now go, I don't want you to get in trouble!" I nodded numbly and dug my pocketknife out of my hand.

"If my dad ties you up again use this to break yourself free," I said. Dad's early morning talking suddenly filled the room and as quietly as a mouse I somehow managed to lock both doors back and slink back into Jake's room. We collapsed on his bed, panting with nerves and a nervous laugh escaped from Jake.

"Ok, what happened to the old Jake who hated science, and never showed any emotion?" I asked, rolling over. My long-black-haired-slightly-Goth 18 year old brother shrugged and shot me a devious smile.

"You're not the only one who wants to be a veterinarian."

That night we snuck into William's 'room.' He was already wide awake, eagerly waiting for us.

"Ready?" I asked. He nodded and gently eased his weight on his left foot. Almost immediately he slipped and he fell onto the floor again.

"Are you kidding me?" he muttered, dragging himself onto the cot.

"Here." I gently wrapped my arms around his midsection and held him so he could put his feet on the floor. I gently let him put some weight on his feet and held him there until his legs stopped shaking.

"Thanks," he said awkwardly.

"Don't mention it. You only weigh like 30 pounds," I joked.

"I'm not that skinny!" he retorted. "And I weigh like 60 pounds, so ha!"

"That's still not good," I said, easing more weight onto his legs.

"Well he's not exactly made for land," Jake sniggered, a grin crossing his face. A laugh escaped from William and I glowed inside. For all he had been through, it was good that he was able to joke around. And with people that weren't even his own species. _What did happen to you that day when you washed up on shore_? I thought to myself.

"What happened that day you washed up on shore?" I asked absently, letting him sit back on the cot. A dark expression covered his face and he flinched.

"I don't exactly remember. I was swimming and something or someone seemed to drop on top of me. I couldn't see, and that's when I swam into the trap. I heard people shouting and something sharp gave me this cut," he said, pointing to his neck. I winced, as if I were feeling his own pain and sat next to him. He swallowed and continued. "Something pulled me out of the water; I tried to get out and that's when they threw the net over me. And that's when-"

"They tied you to the trap," I said slowly. "So it wasn't an accident."

"We aren't stupid Annie. Our parents told us to watch out for humans and they're traps," he said, pain shadowing his eyes.

"Hey, we should go, dad will be coming out here in a few minutes," Jake said, looking at his watch. I felt William tense and a part of me longed to stay and comfort him. But he was right, we couldn't stay much longer.

"I'll see you later, maybe I'll see you later today," I offered lamely. He nodded and I trudged out of the room, my heart tearing in half as I felt the pang again. I couldn't deny it, but maybe it was just a crush or something. His mom and dad fell in love and they're from two different worlds, my heart rang out. I pushed it back and quietly slunk into my room, praying that today would go by fast.

A few hours later Jake walked into my room, a mixed expression on his face.

"Dad told me to go out so you could 'takea look at et'!'" he imitated. I sat up, hatred curling around my heart. Anyway I nodded and followed him out into the store. As soon as I saw William my heart shattered.

Like a dog, he was in a cage. A metal dog cage. Dad had tied his hands to the bars so he couldn't move around enough to try to escape. Pictures that had been taken of him in 'fish' form where mounted on a case next to the cage, to explain how we caught him, and what had happened. Cheesy tourists snapped countless photos and little kids tried to stick their stubby fingers through the bars, trying to touch him. He flinched as one kid finally managed to anger flashed through his eyes. He aimed his foot squarely at the child's face and kicked hard, against the bars, making the kid cry out in pain, even though he hadn't even hurt him. The mother of the child took off her heel and started to beat the top of the cage with it, denting it in, screaming some very un-mother-like words and using some very naughty vocabulary. William struggled against the rope trying to break it as he mother kept trying to hit him with the heel, until one blow cracked against the bridge of his nose.

He bit his lip to keep from crying out in pain, as blood welled up on his nose and dripped onto the floor. Smirking in satisfaction, the woman put the heel back on and led her bawling child out.

"Pathetic losers!" I spat after them, resisting the urge to beat them with _my_ shoe. My dad rushed out onto the scene and roughly grabbed the cage, shouting to the crowd.

"Sorry! This creature can be very unstable! I'll try to calm it down and then we'll bring it back out!" More anger flashed through William's eyes, and he lunged at my dad, pure hatred on his face. Ignoring him and the booing crowd, he dragged the cage back into the backroom. I opened the door and watched as dad yelled something at Jake and left the room. Jake motioned for me to walk over as he managed to open the dented door and drag William out, who was starting to cough up blood.

"Are you okay?" I asked, cutting the rope with a pair of Siccors.

"My pride hurts more than my nose," he muttered. "It felt good to kick that kid in the face."

"I would've done the same," Jake said, laughing a little. "How bad does your nose hurt?"

"Not much," he said, rubbing the crook of his nose. I leaned down and gently started swabbing away the dried blood that had accumulated.

"How long is it going to take me to learn to walk?" he asked painfully, staring up at Jake. He shrugged hopelessly and William groaned, and let himself slid to the floor.

Suddenly the muffled sound of my dad's footsteps echoed in the hall way, and I bolted into the hallway before he could see me. Jake wrapped a piece of rope around William's hands, so it would look like he would still be tied and William turned on his terrified face. I'm not sure if it was fake.

"Well, well, good news Jake! I've decided that this thing is ready. Tomorrow we'll put it in water, and let people . . . get a closer look, if you will," dad said smugly. Real terror flashed across William's face and he turned deathly pale. Dad continued on, "Give it to me Jake. I'll make sure it doesn't cause any more trouble for now," he said darkly. Jake stepped away and dad started dragging William's roughly across the floor and into the closet. William let him, eyes wide with terror and ridged as a piece of wood. The closet door closed and dad emerged a few minutes later, a smug expression on his face.

"It won't be causing any trouble for a while."

I lay on the floor and watched as Tori's dad walked out, a smug expression on his face. He had re-tied my hands and I tried to reach Tori's knife, but couldn't. Then I felt blood trickle from my throat again and blackness threatened to take over again as I struggled against it.

That night we rushed into the closet and I gasped. William lay motionless on the floor, hands and feet bound together. He scarcely breathed, and a big bruise on his right cheek was beginning to swell up and bleed. And even worse, the cut on his throat was open and bleeding again.

I instinctively took a bandage I kept in my pocket for emergencies and held a piece against his throat, gently elevating him off the ground so he would have a better time breathing. His eyes briefly fluttered open and I stroked his sweaty hair, comforting him. He drew in tighter and his fingers closed around mine, as if he was afraid to let go. I let him and another pang hit me, only this time it seemed final, and declarative, as if to say 'this is how it's going to be, and you can't change fate.' I didn't want to. I couldn't deny the fact that I was in love with him. His green eyes seemed to hypnotize me every time he looked at me, and I could tell that he seemed to love me too. No one else would show their dependence so much on another person, if they didn't feel something deeper, something that only God could control.

His green eyes fluttered open again and I met his eyes. Knowing that I didn't want to deny it anymore I let go of my feeling, and let all my emotions spill out through my eyes. His pupils dilated, as if they were soaking up the emotion and he relaxed and smiled back at me.

"It's okay," I whispered.

"I know," he whispered back.

The next day Jake and I watched in silent remorse as dad dragged William out of the closet and shoved him in a different cage. Hands once again bound to the depressing metal bars, William could only sit there in a puddle of his own terror as the cage was lowered into what looked like a stone kitty pool filled with water.

As his legs hit the water they seemed to shimmer and bubble until a glowing shark tail took place. His hair seemed to get shaggier and his eyes greener as he glared at my dad, struggling to break the rope. He only sniggered and pushed the stone pool out of the backroom and into the store, where a crowd of eager tourists awaited. When they saw William they cheered and snapped pictures.

"Settle down, settle down. Now as I have planned, the creature has recovered enough from his recent 'spill' on the shore and the children can perform their experiment!" he yelled out to the crowd. _Back up_, I thought harshly. Experiment? Wasn't keeping him prisoner here harsh enough? I started to turn the knob, but Jake stopped me.

"If we go out there and cause a scene I'll only make things worse than it already is," he said grimly. I grudgingly lowered my hands and continued to stare out the tiny window. I hated my brother's new sense of superior-ness and annoyingly correct logic.

"Now, the elected children will be able to pour different substances on the creature's skin and write down how it affects it. Everyone ready? Children, pick up your breaker that is labeled 'oil'!" he rang out. A body guard standing next to him opened a different door from the cage and wrapped a thick cord around William's tail, so he wouldn't be able to move. Anger flashed through William's eyes as vegetable oil was poured over his tail, sticking in messy globs to the cage and rope that held him still. It made me hurt to think of how embarrassing and demeaning it would be to me if my true yet secret identity was exposed to everyone who thought I was an utter and complete freak, and then to have it escalate to a point where you were tied down to see if you reacted differently to something as normal as _freaking vegetable oil_! That had to suck. Immensely, and terribly suck.

"Now pick up your vessel titled vinegar." Panic seged through William's eyes and he seemed to explode into motion, jerking and twisting everywhere to get lose. The child holding the smelly container ignored him, and started to dip the bottle toward his tail.

"Oh no," Jake moaned, sliding against the wall.

"What?" I demanded. Jake groaned, clenching his teeth like a vampire getting ready to suck his fangs into his victim (now that I thought of it, my brother actually could pull of being a vampire, I mean, mermen, and I'm guessing mermaids too existed, why not throw some other fairytale creature into the mix? He was pale and looked goth enough to), and dug his black nails into the wood of the door, crouching down like he was in pain. Numbly he asked,

"What happens if you let a fish swim in vinegar?" he asked listlessly. I paled at the un-thought-of possibility and he did the vampire-clenching teeth thing again. "The sensitive layer of skin underneath the scales would just burn away and dissolve. Like an egg in vinegar, it's dissolve." I paled even more, and suddenly Jake seemed to come alive again, hitting and kicking at the locked door.

"Vinegar, it's a weak acid. It'; burn the skin of his tail. We have to stop her!" he jerked helplessly at the locked knob, and tried fruitlessly to kick down the door. I stared hopelessly at William as the little girl tipped the bottle and it spilled into the water. William yelled in pain, as the liquid slipped everywhere, seeming to wash his skin off as easily as paint off of a paintbrush. Blood welled up in one of the burns and the thin layer of skin underneath his more durable scales broke. Dark red blood spilled into the water, and William's eyes grew wide with pain and terror.

No they freaking didn't.

With a boxer's strength, I kicked open the door and raced toward my dad, fury burning in my heart, pumping through my veins. I slid against the slippery floor, sliding underneath him and he went down with a crash behind me as I stuck my foot out-just as I was clear of his fat body's falling range. Moving at Godspeed, I cut the rope the bound William to the cage and dragged him out. People screamed and ran for cover as he coughed up water. I sighed in relief as his legs formed and I held him up.

"He can't run yet!" Jake shouted from across the room, fighting a security guard.

"OH YES HE CAN!" I shoved William and somehow he scrambled upright and together we bolted for the door and hit the ground running. Jake pulled up next to seconds later, spitting sand and blood from his mouth.

"Okay, I see a bunch of the two-legged bolting out a small building, and one runs like he's one-footed duck," I said doubtfully, turning towards my sister.

"Humans are weird," Jade said bluntly, carving an image in the sand with her toe. I looked through the binoculars again and gasped.

"Jade on of them looks like William! There are two others with him, a boy and a girl. It looks like they're trying to help him!" I cried out. Jade leapt to her feet and ripped the binoculars away from me so she could see.

"And heading right for this rock! Trip them, maybe it is him!" she said, improvising quickly as she dropped the binuclear and slightly stuck her foot outside the rock. I did the same and suddenly a wave of sand hit us as the girl tripped along with William.

"Caroline, Jade?" he asked wildly before hitting the ground.

"It is him!" I cried out dragging him into the crevice. Jade tripped the boy seconds later, and we stared at the three, all breathing hard, and bleeding from various cuts and bruises. William was the worse. A bleeding bruise seemed to grow bigger and bigger on his right cheek and he looked thinner than ever, panting for every breath. Cuts were on his hands and wrists, and one deep cut on his throat sprouted blood.

"What the heck happened to you?" Jade cried out.

"Forget that!" I snapped. "Let's get in the cave before anyone sees us!" The other two, the girl sticking close to William, looking as scared and shaken up as he did. _Is she one of us_? I thought curiously. I led the group into a small hole that we had covered up with rock and sand. We entered the small, gloomy tunnel and squeezed through another narrow gap. From there, there was a huge cave. A few stalagmites littered the floor and moss grew on the damp rocks that outlined a small pool of fresh water. A slow, steady stream of water flowed through a crack behind a big boulder that split the cave in half and ran into a gigantic salt water pool, big enough to swim in.

Suddenly I heard a groan and turned around to see William drop to the floor, and the girl that had been sticking close by him squat down next to him, worry glazed over her eyes. The taller boy sat down in front of him, looking as worried as the girl did. I scuttled across the stone boulder and looked over them.

"Who are ya 'll?" I asked eagerly. Maybe I would have a friend my own age here. At least on that was my own kind.

I looked up at the scrawny girl, who seemed as bright and as happy as the sun. I cleared my throat.

"I'm Annie and this is my brother Jake," I said. She nodded and I saw William wince in pain as Jake rolled up his jeans so he could see the burn from the vinegar.

"Never mind what their names are, who are you? And what happened to our brother?" the tall girl asked coolly. So we explained. The other two winced as if they had been burned themselves by the vinegar. When we finished they both looked astonished.

"You two risked your lives to save William?" the younger girl croaked. I nodded and a look of pure gratefulness crossed over her face. She hopped down from the boulder and the tall one edged closer to watch Jake look at William's burn.

"It doesn't look pretty, but it won't be deadly unless it gets infected. And if you even think about moving I'll slap you," he party joked. "What you need the most is rest. What you did back there was crazy. Bolting at top speed when you could barely walk. It was bone-headed. I'm surprised you're not paralyzed yet!" he said, casting a sharp look at me.

"Well would you have rather had him stay there to die?" I questioned intently. Jake rolled his eyes and stood up, accidently bumping into the tall girl. He blushed bright red, and so did the girl as they backed slowly away from each other. I stifled a laugh and so did the younger one. William weakly lifted his head and pointed at his sisters.

"These are my sisters. The scrawny one is Abigail, and the tall one is Jade. Abigail is 'water bug' and Jade is the bear you don't prod on with a stick," he joked. Jade sent him an icy glare, her jet black hair seeming to flow as smooth as the water. Abigail, on the other hand had bright blonde curly hair, with streaks of red and brown in it.

"Why are you the water bug?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I like the water. That one doesn't," she said, pointing at Jade who sent her another icy glare. "She takes after her father."

"Wait," William said, looking up at them. "How in the world are you walking?!" Abigail shrugged and Jade rolled her eyes.

"I taught her when you washed up on the shore. Once the word got out the humans invaded the island. It was stay and be caught, or leave and survive. We've been living in here for the past two days. The human's will never figure it out. Besides it's easy. How come you can't do it?" she asked.

"I didn't stay on land all the time," he muttered. "Like dad did."

"Where are your parents?" I asked. Immediately I knew it was a bad question.

"They died a few years ago," Abigail said quietly, sitting cross-legged on the boulder.

"When our mother fell in love with a human, they had kids, us, and one day dad was showing mom how to walk. They were on the edge of a sandy cliff and it collapsed. The impact killed them instantly. For years now we've lived on a small island next to our father's beach house. These things stayed in the water all the time. I stayed in the house. I've never really liked the water, even though I'm half and half," Jade explained, motioning towards William and Abigail. William's eyes sparkled with frustration as he toyed with his shoelace. I played with his hair and murmured in his ear.

"Relax. Everything's going to be okay. How did you run that fast though? Seconds before you could barely walk!" I whispered.

"When's the last time anything made sense?" he joked, looking deeply into my eyes. I watched as Abigail turned away from us to talk to Jake, who was sitting close to Jade, an odd look in his dark blue eyes. Abigail caught my eye and winked. _Yup_, I thought. They like each other. As Abigail turned to talk to them again I snuggled up closer to William and leaned gently against his shoulder. He smiled and looked at me, an expression of pure happiness in his bright blue eyes.

Young love. Young, stupid, crazy love.

When I woke up I was still leaning against William's shoulder as he gently snored. I chuckled and gently leapt to my feet, wanting to explore the cave. I heard hushed whispered coming from the water fall and peered over the boulder to see Jake and Jade sitting on a flat rock by the water, knee to knee, forehead to forehead. Love sparkling in their eyes.

"When do you think they'll start making out?" I jumped and saw Abigail squatting next to me on the boulder, playfulness gleaming in her eyes. I laughed and shrugged.

"With Jake who knows. What about Jade? What do you think she'll do?" I inquired. Abigail shrugged too and a smile crossed her face.

"She usually hard core, and takes things fast. But who knows? She might soften up and go slow if she's not so shut up and jumpy."

"That sounds more like Jake. But he's really changed lately. Maybe he'll slow it down," I said experimentally. She turned her head and motioned towards William.

"What's his romantic side like. And don't deny it, because you were snuggled close enough together last night to be the same person." I blushed bright red and Abigail giggled at my expression.

"He's taking it slow I guess. I mean, we're not making out or anything if that's what you mean," I said awkwardly, shifting nervously.

"Ah." She paused for a moment and then continued, a little more slowly this time. "How badly was he hurt? Will he ever be able to walk like we can? Or have the connections in his legs completely worn out like Jake said they might?" she asked worriedly. Hesitating I looked at his limp figure, slowly breathing, spread out like hot butter on bread, against the hard stone floor.

"When he got trapped in the net, he said that someone, something, had dragged him in the crab trap and tied him to it. It was them who slit his throat. Whatever they were, I think they were trying to murder him," I started slowly. Abigail's eyes widened in shock. "I saw him lying on the beach when he washed on shore and he kept crying out for me to help him. I tried to stop the blood, but I passed out. Then my brother found us on the beach and brought us back. He took care of the cut, but he had already lost so much blood. He needed a tube to help his breath. At first we weren't even sure if he was going to make it. My dad made things even worse. He tied him up and put him in an old closet every night so he couldn't escape. Every day he put him in a cage and would explain to people what he was. The day that we escaped, my dad had put him in water,-" Abigail's eyes widened with horror and she winced, like she was feeling his own pain. "- and he let a bunch of little kids pour different stuff on his tail to see what would happen as a big money funder. As you know, the second substance was vinegar. When I saw him screaming in pain, I ran out and literally threw everyone out of the way as I dragged him to his feet. Jake was fighting against a few security guards when we all bolted for the beach. I still have no idea how William managed to run like that in his weakest state. Then you dragged us down here. Honestly, I think he's just scared. He's 14, one year older than me and that's not exactly an age where you should have to cope with this stuff. If a human was put through what he had been through, it would be most likely that they would be mentally damaged forever," I said serenely.

I stared into his dark blue eyes and let the feeling of upmost love flow through my veins, directing my every move, every blink, and every twitch. He looked back at me with the same expression and motioned toward the water.

"Come on, I wanna see what you look like," he said eagerly. I knew what he meant. He wanted to see what I looked like in 'fish' form.

"No, I don't like the water," I protested as he stood up and started walking toward the water. My lovesick heart started to bolt after him, but I stayed glued to where I was. I wasn't used to this lovey-dovey sense of compassion. Ever since our parents died, it had been 'don't let people get close to you or they'll break your heart or figure out you're a freak' type situation. I wasn't used to being this vulnerable, and staying away from water was part of that. I wasn't sure if I liked being this vulnerable, but there was something about being around Jake that made me feel safer and protected. Like me, he was dark, and could absolutely pass for a gothic looking vampire (a hot one) and his complicated personality matched mine. A lot. But he was still human, and I wasn't ready to give up the last secret part of me to this strangely beautiful intoxicating who-was-pretty-much-a-stranger human I had met twelve hours ago. I hated my fish-form body. It was way more vulnerable than my human one, and I had been caught in nets the few times that I had relented to feel the cool waters' splash on my luminous skin. It wasn't pleasant, but I was pretty sure that Jake wasn't going to pull a net out of his back jeans pocket and try to catch me. He was too nice and gentle and beautiful for that. And he had helped my younger brother survive against the other terrible humans. That did count for something right? I hoped it did. He wouldn't just help him on the extremely off-chance that the kid he's been helping had two sisters, one of which he could bewitch into falling for him and catch her just as he lured her into her weakest state, and then get all the others and then just completely abandon his little sister, Tori, whom he had told me that he loved with all his heart while we were talking earlier and would do anything to protect her. . . right? Well I hoped so. Anyway, there was some oddly mystical voice whispering in the back of my tentative lifestyle that this would be okay. Right? Once again-I hoped so. Fear was a factor I was not so good at contending with/at.

"Come on. You're not scared of water are you?" he teased gently. For a moment I was so overcome with love that I barely realized that I was walking toward the water. I stopped before the frigid water hit my feet and watched as Jake cannon-balled into the warm water, making a huge crash that echoed eerily around the cave. I stifled a laugh and he swam over to me as I sat cross-legged on the bank, stubborn. He gave me his puppy dog eyes and I laughed, unable to resist.

Suddenly his hand came up from nowhere and dragged me into the water. Caught off guard I fell into the pool and glared at him.

"Jake. I barely know what I look like," I protested as I felt my legs numb up.

"I just wanna see," he protested back. I looked at my legs as I saw them transform into my silvery, bluish-green tail. It was longer than my legs were by about a foot and scales covered my chest, like a mermaid top bathing suit would. Complete irony. I saw my hair get lighter and curlier, until it seemed as long as my tail. I knew my eyes would be bright, turquoise blue. And for the few times that I had been in water I knew that a strange birthmark appeared whenever I got wet. It looked like a tiny trickle of pale blue water, swirling around the left side of my face like a vine.

I looked up at Jake and saw him gaping at me in astonishment, mouth hanging open.

"Dang girl. When's the last time you looked as pretty as that?" Abigail called out from the boulder. I blushed and looked at Jake.

"Happy?"

"Oh yeah."

"Okay, now it's time to make you suffer." I quickly dove under the water and shot away from him, diving to the depths of the pool, feeling surprisingly comfortable in the warm water. I was so not totally used to this. . . but it seemed fun. . . so why not? Jake dove after me and I teased him still, waiting until he was just about to touch me, and shot away again.

After he looked like he had suffered enough I let him catch me and he seemed to stare like a completely retarted love-struck idiot at me. Overcome by the immense emotion I let him pull me close to him so that our foreheads touched. My tail wrapped around his leg and I pressed tightly against his chest, almost scared to let go, afraid that I would lose his magical touch. He let me, and suddenly he leaned down and kissed me. His lips felt warm against mine and somehow I clung even tighter to swim, afraid to let go. We parted and I breathed in and out, trying to get my heart rate down to normal.

"I love you," he murmured, stroking my hair.

"I love you too," I whispered back. He kissed me again, longer this time, and I relished every moment, never wanting it to end. But finally it did, and we gently swam up to the surface. My hair splayed awkwardly around my face and I was forced to let go of his leg so we could stay afloat.

"Regretting this yet?"

"Never."

I turned away from Jake and Jade and watched as William's eyes fluttered open. I walked over to him and Abigail turned around, a glee-full expression on her face.

"Jake got Jade to come in the water!" she laughed. William's eyes widened and he struggled to stand to his feet.

"Jade is in water? What the heck did I miss?" he asked us. I laughed.

"How bad does your leg hurt?"

"Not bad. It just feels funny whenever I try to move," he said. I nodded.

"Wanna walk?"

"Please." Slowly and carefully he pulled his feet under him and pushed himself up, clinging to the stone wall for support. I watched as he slowly extended one foot and put weight on it. He took another step, balancing on me as he steadily walked over to the boulder, where Abigail was watching with amazed eyes. William clung to the rock and smiled up at me panting with effort.

"Nice. I'm surprised you didn't collapse," Abigail teased. William laughed and shook his head. Pride shone in my heart. Abigail was right, it was a miracle that William could stand, let alone walk without special leg therapy first.

"That was impressive," I murmured, once again captivated by his green eyes.

"Thanks," he murmured back, sounding dazed. I pulled him to the top of the boulder and looked down at Jade, who was playfully trying to smuggle out of the water, as Jake swam around her urging her to stay in. She was on land for a split second before she slipped on the slippery rock and feel in the pool, much to our amusement. We all burst out in hysterical laughter as she glared at us. Jake joined us and nudged her in the water, trying to get her to lighten up. A hint of a laugh crossed her face as she dove underneath the water and swam away from Jake. He dove after her, like a baby horse following his mom and chased her playfully as she evaded him, giggling at his lack of speed.

Abigail held her finger to her mouth and slid down the boulder. Barely making a ripple she slid into the bright blue water and her legs transformed into a shimmering fish tail. Bright colors like a rainbow seemed to come in and out of view for every move she made. Quickly she snuck up behind Jake and dragged him down in the water, surprising him immensely as he tried to see who was dragging him. I could almost see the stories of evil Sirens luring poor, innocent humans to their deaths and then eating them with a very-real vampire-like cruelty and animalistic-like way, flash through his vulnerable mind. Jade turned around in the water and laughed as Jake tried to shake of Abigail, who held onto him like a vise. Very real terror shone in his eyes that he was about to drown, and he floundered around like William had been when he was caught in the crab trap.

She finally let go of him and he floundered towards the surface, coughing and still looking around to see how had attacked him, fear still partly paralyzing him. Abigail floated up to the top a few feet away from him, laughing and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Okay, if that's the way you want it," he teased, his terror banished as soon as it had been invited. He ducked underwater and dragged Jade down with him, caught off guard from laughing. Playing along she dove underneath the surface and swatted him with her tail as Jade 'tried' to break free of his grip. Laughing he let her go and held his hands up in mercy as Abigail swatted him again, laughing just as hard.

William shot me a look and I raised my eyebrow.

"What?" I asked. He motioned towards the water.

"Wanna go in?" he asked playfully.

"Sure?" I said. Laughing he slid down the rock, and dragged me awkwardly into the water. We landed with a splash and I watched in amazement as his tail formed. It still reminded me of a shark fin and he swam toward me and touched me. The fog in my eyes disappeared and suddenly I could see as well as I could on land. I scarcely needed to hold my breath, I felt like I could hold it forever.

"Neat huh?" he asked, swimming around me.

"Yeah," I breathed, watching in amazement as no air bubbles trickled up to the surface like they would usually do. I swam deeper in the warm water, surprised at how easy it was when I was touching William. He swam under me and smiled. I smiled back and saw Abigail smiling at me and giving me thumbs up as she continued to drag Jake underwater. I laughed and swam over to them as William joined the fight, only trying to let Jake go instead of drowning him. I joined Jade and she touched the edge of her tail to my foot so I wouldn't suffocate.

"This is so cool!" I squealed like a happy three year old

Suddenly blackness covered my eyes and I felt myself being dragged to the bottom of the pool.

"Let go of me William," I said.

"Never. You're too pretty to ever let go of." Red. I blushed bright red and shoved him off of me, only have him come back like an obnoxious bug and blind me again, laughing as I turned around, trying to shake him off. Just when I started to wonder if he ever would let go of me he did and he faced me in the water, still laughing. I laughed with him and play-punched him on the shoulder. His eyes met mine and I sighed in comfort. Nothing and I mean nothing could ever destroy what we had together. Something too great for words that only God could control. Suddenly what sounded like a car pulling up to the sand met our ears and we heard shouting and footsteps thundering above us.

"They're in here!"

"Drag em' out!" William whitened as we heard men managing to squeeze through the crevice that led in the cave, my dad's voice leading the way. We all started to scramble out of the pool as my dad, followed by other men, burst into the cave. My dad's eyes widened as he saw a flash of Jade's, William's and Abigail's tails as they pulled themselves out of the water and phased.

"There are more of them?" he asked to himself. We huddled together, bracing ourselves to fight; William stepped in front of me, anger and determination shining in his green eyes. My dad's shock turned to a sneer as he edged forward.

"So now the fish can walk," he sneered. Fury seemed to explode inside Abigail's eyes and I saw her out of the corner of my eye as she slid along the rock floor. She suddenly jumped out from behind the boulder and tackled my dad, knocking him to his feet and wrestling away his knife, throwing it into the pool. Another man grabbed her and Jade attacked him, fury powering her to the maximum. She brought the guy holding Abigail down to the ground squealing like a newborn pig and we joined in the fight. I picked a scrawny looking nerd holding a lab top and kicked him into the wall and flinging his computer into the boulder, smashing it. I saw William fighting against dad's body guard that had held him tie him up every day to be shoved in the cage. Fury powering him he somehow managed to fling the burly man onto a sharp stalagmite. As he ran off to pick of another bodyguard I saw Jake and Jade fighting against an old fisherman together, and sent him swearing into the pool. I joined William and flipped the bodyguard, easily unbalancing his bulky form. I looked around and everyone was on the ground, or scrambling through the crevice.

Suddenly Abigail popped out of nowhere, dragging someone across the ground and pushing him against the wall, looking smug.

"That's a scar he'll remember," she said darkly, walking over to us. I looked around, and breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone who remained was unconscious. Wait. . .

"Where's my dad?"

"Right over here." We all turned around and saw my dad once again wielding his knife, holding it up, ready to stab.

"Do you really think that you can win?" he snarled. "You're just a bunch of fish. By now even North Korea should know about ya'll. Do you really think you can hide forever? What about food? Water? It's over."

"It's not over until we say it is!" Jade snarled back, advancing toward him, holding a sharp stone. Abigail backed her up, and we all advanced toward my dad. The same old sneer crossed him face and he lowered the knife.

"Have it your way." The knife clattered to the floor and he pulled a tiny black handgun out of his pocket. With a pop, a small bullet seemed to streak across the room in slow motion, and hit William in the stomach. He fell to the floor and Jake attacked my dad, ripping away the gun and kicking the knife across the floor. Jade grabbed it and held it against his throat, forcing him to back up against the wall.

"Make another move and I'll slaughter you," she hissed, tears already boiling over in her bright, almost neon turquoise eyes, as she was undoubtly thinking about William's dying and bleeding figure on the floor. I bolted over to William as scarlet blood started trailing over the floor, as pain clouded his face. He screamed in agony and I held my hand against the wound. Jake ran over and used his shirt to wrap around the wound. The light started to fade from William's eyes and tears formed in Abigail's eyes as Jake seemed to panic.

"He's too weak, he's already lost so much blood," she choked out. "He's dying."

"NO!" I screamed, clutching his hand and praying that God would let him survive. I couldn't lose him, not after everything that's happened. I couldn't.

Suddenly we heard an ambulance in the distance and more shouting overhead. A man in a white coat raced through the crack and saw William sprawled out on the floor, losing blood fast. He held up what looked like a walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

"Yeah they're in here with a few others. I need back-up now the kid's losing blood fast!" he shouted, running over to us.

"Relax," he panted, feeling William's forehead. "We're on your side. I'm a doctor in training from the animal hospital. A concerned citizen called and said she heard trouble below here. We got the story. Your dad's and his little comrades aren't going to be seeing much for a while. Help me bring him outside, we can't fit a hospital in here!" he said, gently lifting William off the ground. I held up his stomach and somehow all four of us managed to get through the cave. Outside a crowd of people, an ambulance and police cars were waiting for us.

I heard Abigail tell the cops where Jade was holding dad, and they rushed in, all armed with handcuffs. I breathed a sigh of relief as a pair of nurses wheeled William onto the bed of an ambulance and I watched as they hooked him up into an IV and started to wrap a bandage around William's side. He looked up at me and managed a weak smile. I walked over to him and stroked his hair out of his face.

"You just won't die will you?" I teased.

"I do my best," he said dryly.

A few days later William had received surgery for his bullet wound, been fussed over day and night by a bunch of annoying nurses and was now standing in front of me, heart beating as strong as ever. Dad and his helpers had gone to jail, where they would be for a long time. And since Jake was over 18 (we told them he was 19-what's one little white lie here and then?) he could qualify as my guardian. Jade and Abigail stayed with us at the hospital, along with William. No one was allowed to force them into a cage or some fish tank. All was peaceful and good again.

"So how much does it hurt?" I asked, pointing to his side. He shrugged.

"Not much now. But the doctor says I have to take it easy or I actually will kill myself," he joked. I laughed and suddenly he leaned forward and his lips meet mine as he kissed me. Surprised I was too shocked to pull away, not that I wanted to.

After what seemed like an eternity we parted and smiled.

"I love you." He murmured cupping my chin and staring into my navy blue eyes. We started to kiss again but the doctor who had found us in the cave started to walk in. We quickly parted and started to act casual as he was talking to someone on his cell phone.

"Really? Okay that's great, I'll tell them now!" He hung up and turned toward us, a gleeful expression on his face. "Good news. We checked your story, when you washed up on shore, we figured out who tried to kill you. It turns out it was the group that your dad hired to help him out at the store. They were plotting together to kill you because, quote, "it was a genetic mistake that shouldn't exist! It deserved to die!" he said, in my dad's drunken voice. My mouth hung open in shock and William fell back on his bed.

"I feel wanted!" he joked.

"Really," I echoed, perking up. "Where are they now?" I asked hopefully, praying they were locked up in some mental hospital, or even better prison!

"All of them were arrested with the charges of repeated attempted murder, kidnapping and my own little charge I call completing the act of being stupid and pathetic and stupid," he joked. I laughed and William chucked as he sat up again.

"And judgey, don't forget judgey," I said. The doctor and William nodded their approval.

"Are you okay?" William asked hesitantly. "I mean, he was your dad after all, are you going to be alright?" I nodded, not even pausing to mull over that fact that I might never see my dad again, except behind sheets of bulletproof glass or steel, metal prison bars, eternally locked in a bright neon orange prison jumpsuit.

"I stopped caring, loving and standing up for that jerk ever since he started getting drunk when I was nine and bringing home slutty women from the bars he stayed at all night," I said easily. "I'm used to his rejection. Don't worry about it." He caressed my cheek and looked deep into my navy blue eyes.

"I still worry about you though, are you absolutely sure?" he asked. I nodded. The doctor patted my shoulder as if he agreed with my father-less resolution.

"Tori's dad was a jerk face," he said unemotionally. We laughed and I intertwined my fingers through William's.

"I agree," he said, toying with my hair. I smiled and relaxed. By now everyone was bound to know about them, but according to the police they would be passing a new act that retrained people from a) catching them, b) murdering them, c) stalking them, d) experiment on them and a bunch of other letters. Everything was okay, but most importantly, we were alive.

Score: one to zero.

Sucks for you hateful judgmental humans out there.

So remember my story peoples on , don't be judgey, and people (usually) won't be judgey back to you! Have a good day!

~MABJ

ument here...


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